Health officials in the South American country of Brazil have warned pregnant women against kissing strangers or sharing cutlery with them as medical researchers say they have found traces of the Zika virus in saliva.
According to the country’s top research agency, the Zika virus found in the saliva samples were active, meaning they were capable of causing infection.
They also affirmed that they found traces of the virus in urine samples.
However, the researchers at the Fiocruz institute say they are trying to establish whether the body fluids can spread infection to new patients, just as the president of the agency, Paulo Gadelha, affirmed that expectant mums should avoid kissing and sharing cutlery with people who have symptoms of the virus.
‘That fact that the virus was found with the capacity to cause infection is not proof that it can contaminate other people through those fluids,’ said Myrna Bonaldo.
The Zika virus, which is contracted through bites from the Aedes mosquito, has been found to cause microcephaly, a condition which causes severe brain defects in new-born babies.
This new information comes a day after it was confirmed in Brazil that the virus could now be transmitted through blood transfusion, and three days after it was confirmed in Texas, United States that the virus could be transmitted through sexual intercourse.